ALL Belinda Cutting's children wanted was for their mum to come home so they could go swimming together.But today they are having to face up to a future without her, after the doting 37-year-old Kesgrave mum-of-three lost her battle against breast cancer.

ALL Belinda Cutting's children wanted was for their mum to come home so they could go swimming together.

But today they are having to face up to a future without her, after the doting 37-year-old Kesgrave mum-of-three lost her battle against breast cancer.

Her husband, Neil, told how Mrs Cutting had to make a heart-wrenching telephone call to tell her family she had only days to live and would not be coming home again.

Mrs Cutting's visit to St Elizabeth Hospice was supposed to be a routine appointment to change to her drug dosage.

However, her chesty cough told doctors her condition was deteriorating as her lungs, which were also riddled with cancer, were no longer taking the oxygen she needed.

Mr Cutting, a hairdresser who works at Victor Doe's in Norwich Road, Ipswich, said: “I was supposed to go and meet her in the afternoon but she called to say I needed to go up there straight away and I was there by about 11am.

“The doctors said it could take a long time for her to eventually die because youngsters fight for a long time.

“So they were going to give her medication to put her in a sleep-like state for the days that lay ahead.

“We all got to say goodbye and then I stayed for the next two days until she died on the Friday morning at 2.20am. I only left for an hour of that time just to nip home and have a shower.”

Mr Cutting, of Fox Lea, said the couple had tried to tell their three children of their mother's illness.

But Warren, eight, Melanie, five, and Leonie, three, were too young to fully understand, until she went into the hospice for the final time on Wednesday, February 22. She had battled breast cancer for two years.

Mr Cutting said: “Warren came to me a few weeks ago and said 'when mummy gets better can we go swimming?' I didn't have the heart to tell him she wasn't going to get better so I just said yes.

“On that Wednesday evening I explained to them that Mummy was going to die very soon. It was extremely hard but they have been very good about it. I guess it will hit later on.”

Mr Cutting and his wife had been married for 15 years.

They were both pupils at Kesgrave High School and became friends at the school's youth club.

He said: “She was a shy and quiet woman but had razor-sharp wit.

“She adored her children - they were her life. Even through her illness she put everyone else first and never complained.

“She was extremely brave and just got on with life until the bitter end.

“We were told to plan ahead for after she had gone, perhaps write letters for when the children grew up, but she was just so desperate for life to carry on as normal that we decided not to.”

A funeral will be held at Ipswich Crematorium, North Chapel, on March 8 at 11.30am.